6.2.4 Recyclability assessment

In order to determine the recyclability of a material we may use a several - step approach, such as the one described by Oyasato and Kobayashi1 in Figure 1:

Figure 1: A procedure for recyclability evaluation

In detail the steps are as follows:

1. Enter data for the products, such as

Who owns the product?

What kind of ownership is involved?

What is the price?

How big is the product?

What is the average life of the product?

What is the weight of the product? etc.

2. Set the basic conditions, relevant for recyclability evaluation

disassembly level – materials are being arranged in a scale list, according to the possibility of disassembling, the time needed, what is left aside etc.2

transportation

processing costs

3. Analysis of recyclability

defining the purity of the recycled product

defining the applicable recycling methods3

setting up rating methods, based on recyclability rating and material separability rating4

E.g. to determine the recyclability rating a special table may be used (Table 1), where a scale of marks from 0 to 5 is fixed, where 0 is given to products which are difficult to recycle and 5 is given to items which can easily be recycled.

Table 1: Material recyclability evaluation

The recycling guidelines5 can be used for material separation rating too. During the dismantling process various indicators are used, such as:

the name of element,

number of repetitions

sort of material/component,

time required for separation,

the mass of element

the recyclability of particular element

4. Future improvements

The company’s recycling strategy, when designing a new product has to account for the following issues:

Design for recycling can negatively affect performance and cost, e.g. required material substitution is not always possible or will cost more.

The trade-offs between design for disassembly and design for assembly are often cited, studied and questioned.

During product’s design and specification of components for assembly certain improvements will be needed for the sake of the recycling process.

Think about how to apply a recycling scheme in your company, following the guidelines given, e.g. to make a classification of your wastes.

Look around in the company and define how to improve the recyclability rating in the company, by offering appropriate measures.

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This project was carried out with the support of the European Community. The content of this project does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Community or the National Agencies, nor does it involve any responsibility for their part.